Innovation News

​Mount Laurel, NJ ― Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) students participating in the college’s Undergraduate Research Program alongside faculty in the newly renamed Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Division, will present their year-long research findings at the annual Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium on Friday, April 29 at the Mount Laurel campus in Laurel Hall, room 320.

“Rowan College at Burlington County’s Undergraduate Research Program challenges students at a level that cannot be found at most two-year institutions,” said RCBC President Paul Drayton.

“RCBC’s Undergraduate Research Program, and honors courses that will begin this fall, along with our partnership with Rowan University, a top research university, gives our students incredible opportunities in the STEM field that is well beyond what their peers can find at similar institutions,” Drayton added.

Students and faculty will discuss their innovative and original research projects in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and computer science.

​“The skills obtained by the students in the Undergraduate Research Program can also be applied to internships with companies like Lockheed Martin, which supports the program, coursework at four-year institutions like Rowan University, and future STEM careers,” said RCBC Chemistry Instructor Dr. Laura Stewart. “Undergraduate research at RCBC allows students to earn practical hands-on experience and gives them great advantages.”

Some of the research projects that will be discussed include Newton's Bench, which placed first in the RCBC division at the college’s Startup Star competition in March.

RCBC students Daniela Velez, Jasvir Gill and Josh Eberle, with the help of RCBC Physics Lecturer Greg Perugini, created “Netwton’s Bench,” a kit of materials that enables students to take college-level physics courses online and perform the lab portion at home.

The kits are currently being sold in the RCBC bookstore and students can now sign up for Principles of Physics I (PHY 110 and PHY 111) and General Physics I (PHY 210 and PHY 211), offered this fall, and complete the entire course, both the lecture portion and the lab portion, online.

Additional student research projects, overseen by RCBC Biology Lecturers Dr. Katharine Milani and Jennifer Rienzi, were recently showcased at the STEM C2 Research Summit at Bergen Community College.

Groups of students analyzed the levels of mercury in Burlington County fish and the levels in wild-caught versus farm-raised salmon. Their findings will also be presented in the form of posters at RCBC’s symposium on Friday.

Other projects at Friday’s symposium include a probe that could land on one of Jupiter’s moons, the study of the degradation of over-the-counter pharmaceutical products, the kinetics of chemical reactions, the creation of a random number generator circuit for security applications, a device that would allow the blind to see via a three dimensional tactile system, and the use of big data analytics tools in cyber situational awareness and defense.

RCBC’s Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Laurel Hall, room 320 on Friday, April 29.

Thomas Plummer, a Lockheed Martin Fellow, who is responsible for all cybersecurity and tactical programs within Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training, will be the guest speaker at 2 p.m.

RCBC students participating in Undergraduate Research projects will present their results in a noncompetitive poster format. Food will be provided. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information on RCBC’s Undergraduate Research Program, please visit www.rcbc.edu/ugr.